A Fresh Start
by Florijo
Summary: The story of what would have happened if Grace hadn't died and Justin and Becca had managed to run away that night.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Unlocking the door and yanking it open, Justin entered the house that he shared with his mother and twin sisters, Mel and Sophie.

"Mum? Mel? Sophie?" he shouted up the stairs. Only silence answered him. Satisfied that there was no one at home, Justin motioned Becca inside and shut the door. Checking his watch, he realised that they didn't have much time, the family would be home soon, and he and Becca couldn't be here when they did. As much as he didn't want to leave his family behind, he wanted to be with Becca more. She'd be his family now and maybe when the dust had settled he would phone them, let them know where he was – and who with.

Taking the stairs two at time, he made his way to his bedroom, the place where he and Becca would make love - whenever she could get away of course. All that would change now, she'd be all his, they could be together whenever they wanted and nobody would be there to stop them. Grabbing a black bag out of his wardrobe, he began to pull various bits of clothing out of the wardrobe and drawers before stuffing them into the bag. As he did this, Becca sat on the bed, fidgeting. Ever since she had first suggested it and Justin had agreed, the same thoughts had plagued her, threatening to overwhelm her conscience and her soul. Was she doing the right thing? By choosing to leave with Justin, she would be losing so much. Her job, her career, her marriage, friends, family….the list was endless. Was it really worth it? Was he really worth it?

"Hey Becca, I'm ready now" Justin suddenly spoke, jolting Becca from her thoughts. "I think we better go now, they'll be home soon. You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine" Becca lied, "Right, let's go then" she continued, getting up and making for the door. Trudging out the door and down the stairs, they both knew they'd be in for a long and tiring night.

The room was small and dingy, and the noise from the neighbouring rooms was deafening at times, but it was the best they could get at such short notice. The bus ride had been a nightmare, both of them terrified at seeing anybody they knew and Becca still wondering whether she had made the right decision. The place was grim, there was no denying it, but in the morning, hopefully after a good nights sleep, they would set about finding a new place, somewhere better and more comfortable. A place they could call home.

"Justin! Get up now, you'll be late for school!" Liz shouted, frustrated at her son's seemingly inability to get up for school on time. "Justin!"

"Mum, stop shouting. Justin's not even there" Mel spoke, wearily as she made her way down the stairs and past her stunned mother.

"What?" Well where is he?" Liz replied, her voice full of panic. However old Justin was, he would always be her little boy and right now, her little boy was missing. "Have you checked his room? Mel? Have you checked his room? Did he say anything to you about being out all night?"

"Mum, just calm down will you. He's 16 not 6! I'm sure he's fine and he'll be home soon" Mel said, reaching for the cornflakes. As she spoke, Sophie joined the two women in the kitchen.

As Mel filled her sister in on the morning's developments, Liz paced up and down, her worry increasing by the minute. It just wasn't like Justin she reasoned to herself. Oh God, what if something had happened? What if he'd been attacked and was lying hurt somewhere or worse……..?

"Mel's right Mum. He's probably just at a friend's house. Why don't you try his mobile?" Sophie said, placing her hand on her Mum's shoulder gently.

Grabbing the phone, Liz quickly dialled the number and held it to her ear.

"Morning" Justin whispered sleepily, stroking Becca's face and tucking her hair behind her ear. The early morning sunlight was creeping into the room, brightening up their otherwise dingy surroundings.

The night's sleep had done nothing to settle Becca's mind. She'd had only a few hours sleep the rest had been spent turning the same old thoughts over in her mind. Thankfully though she had at least settled on one thought, the thought that had been bothering her most of all.

"Mandy! Mandy!" Jake shouted through the keyhole. It was early but he was desperate and knew that Mandy would be an obvious choice in his quest to find his missing wife. Becca had been missing all night and it was only Nancy's reasoned and calmed argument that she had probably had a girly night with Mandy and had fallen asleep that had stopped him from ringing the police to report her missing.

After several minutes of incessant shouting and knocking, the door was opened by a tired looking Mandy, wrapped in her dressing gown and juggling baby Grace in her arms.

"Jake? What do you want? Do you know what time it is?" Mandy said, irritated at this early morning interruption. She and Tony had been up most of the night with Grace and they could have done without the irate husband of her best friend turning up.

"Is Becca here? She never came home last night and I thought she might be here" Jake replied, casting a frantic glance past Mandy into the living room behind her.

"Becca's in the bathroom, Jake. She had a bit too much to drink last night" Mandy lied, smiling slightly as if to try and make light of the situation, "I'll tell her to phone you when she gets out, okay?" she continued, hoping her lie was convincing enough. She could kill Becca right now she knew how much she hated lying to Jake for her. But Becca was her best friend and she didn't want to betray her, even if that put her in a difficult position.

"Okay, well I'm going to be at work. So get her to call my mobile" Jake said, suitably calmed before turning and walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"What are you looking at?" Becca asked wearily as she sat on the bed next to Justin, stroking his arm absentmindedly.

"Jobs page, the quicker we get jobs the quicker we can get out of here" Justin replied, giving her a quick reassuring smile before casting his eyes back to the page. It was true, they couldn't stay here forever, a rundown, noisy B&B was fine for a few days but not for long. This place was the type of place that could suck the happiness from your soul, body and mind in just a few days. On the face of it, looking around their surroundings, it seemed absurd that she would have even thought about giving up every she had ever worked for, let alone have actually gone and done it.

"Hey, have you checked your mobile yet? Your family might have rung" Becca said suddenly, almost of if she had forgotten they had both just left their families behind without as much as a word. It was subjects that this – families – that were the cause of so much of their guilt these past few months. Not just lying to Jake but Nancy and Justin's family as well. Becca shuddered at the thought of what Liz would say if she found out about her and Justin. Running away with her teenage son was hardly going to endure Liz to her, she thought, but maybe in time when she had got used to it, they could make contact again and explain everything.

"Not yet. I wasn't sure what to do really. I mean right now my Mum probably thinks I'm at a mate's house or something and Jake probably thinks you're with Mandy somewhere. How long is it going to be before they put two and two together, and what if Nicole or Mandy say something? Maybe we should ring them and tell them that we are together and why, not where we are but just tell them before they work it out?"

"Justin, I don't know." It was cowardly but she just couldn't bear the thought of telling them. How could she ever explain it? Yet at the same time she knew that her guilt would overwhelm her if she didn't tell them and she was sure the same would be true for Justin.

"Maybe we should leave an answer phone message. That way we could tell them without them being able to ask lots of questions" Becca continued, after a few moments thought. Okay, she rationalised, they were still cowards but what good would it do her hearing Jake shouting and pillaring her with questions about the why's and how's. This way she could explain properly without interruptions. People would condemn them when they found out but they weren't bad people, neither of them set out to hurt anyone, they just ended up falling for the wrong person. She knew she had agonised for months about her feelings, fighting a fight that deep down she knew at the time that she was never going to win. When your feelings are that strong, fighting against them is pointless, you just end up feeling more and more desperate and alone.

"I think Jake will be at work all day and Nancy at school so I'll phone in a little while as they would have put the answer phone on before they left this morning"

"I love you" Justin whispered, tenderly kissing her on the cheek, before pushing her down on the bed.

"I love you too"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"You know, I thought you were meant to be looking for jobs" Becca whispered, propping herself up on one arm whilst the other stroked Justin's chest gently.

"I was but I got distracted" Justin whispered back, "You're very distracting you know" a smile dancing playfully on his lips as he took Becca's hand in his.

Without responding, she pulled her hand free from his and slid out of the bed. Searching around for her clothes, she quickly found them amongst Justin's and began to dress. The day was passing them by and they had things that they had to do.

"I've got to phone them now, Justin. Do you mind if I do this by myself? I feel I need to do this by myself" Becca said, hesitantly, not wanting to hurt Justin's feelings, "It's just," Becca continued, sitting down on the bed, "I feel I can say what I have to say better if I am on my own. I won't be long. You can go and get us some food if you like. I know we shouldn't really bring food up to the rooms but you could sneak some in, they'd never know"

"Oh, okay if that's what you want" Justin replied, deliberately not trying to hide the hurt from his voice, "I just thought it should be something we should do together but I'll go then, get some food, then come back yeah?"

Sliding out of the bed, Justin picked up his clothes, dressed and then headed for the door. "I won't be long, okay" he added before shutting the door behind him.

Struggling to open the door, his arms laden with shopping, Justin entered the dingy room. "Becca? I'm back. I got us some food. Becca?" Where was she? Suddenly his eyes rested on a folded up piece of paper.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

For what seemed like hours but was in reality only minutes, Justin sat on the bed, unable to take everything in. The piece of paper, taunting him with its mere presence, lay undisturbed and unread. She was gone. His eyes glanced around the room, resting on the opened wardrobe that contained only his clothing. Overcome with emotion, Justin curled up on the bed and wept. She was gone. He was alone.

"_Justin? Justin? I've left him. I love you not him and I want us to be together for the rest of our lives. I should never have married Jake, I know that now. Let's go upstairs, I want you so much"_

Feeling tired and spent, his face wet with tears, Justin wearily sat up, his eyes resting on the piece of paper. He felt sick. It was just a silly dream, a schoolboy fantasy that he had been stupid to ever believe in. He had been her dirty little secret, something she wanted to keep hidden away from everyone who knew them. Sliding across the bed, Justin reached over and grabbed the piece of paper, took a deep breath, and then unfolded it.

_I'm sorry Justin_

Just three words. No explanation, no nothing. The tears slowly began to roll down his reddened face once again.

"_That was amazing. I wish I could lie in your arms forever. I love you so much Justin. I don't care what anyone says, we love each other and that's all that matters"_

The sound of screaming coming from one of the neighbouring rooms jolted Justin awake. This place was hell on earth at the best of times, but without Becca it felt ten times worse. His eyes stung, and his head and heart felt heavy. Feeling tired, he dragged himself up from the bed and over to the bathroom for a shower.

The warm water splashed over his aching body as he absentmindedly washed himself. What should he do now? He couldn't go back, he had no idea where Becca was but he had assumed she had gone back, back to Jake and her cosy little life. Nicole could be persuaded to keep quiet, wouldn't want to upset Nancy by telling her about her sister's "sordid little fling" as Nicole had termed it. Mandy and Tony would also keep quiet he guessed. It would forever be a secret that only the five of them would ever know about and he would go back to just being plain old Justin again, the sad pathetic loser. With Becca he felt alive, a sense that he could do anything he wanted, as long as she was by his side. How could he have been so stupid?

Stepping out of the shower, Justin wrapped himself in a fluffy towel before heading out of the bathroom.

A black-coated figure stood in the middle of the room, their back to the bathroom door.

"Becca?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Becca? Where have you been?" Justin queried, in a pseudo calm voice, his insides burning and his heart racing.

"I'm sorry Justin. I needed time, time to think about us and what is happening here" Becca replied, slowly turning towards Justin.

"It's over Justin. I came back to explain. It's just not going to work, you and me. You're just a boy, a boy with his whole future ahead of him" Becca continued, her voice calm and emotionless.

"I thought you loved me. You said you wanted us to be together. What's changed?"

"What's changed is that I have realised that we are not meant to be together. I don't love you" Becca was crying now, her whole body shaking.

Her words cut through him like a sharp life, pain he had never thought it would be possible to feel. She couldn't mean it, could she? They had been here so many times before. Him saying he loved her, her saying it could never work before giving in and kissing him. What was different this time?

"So you're going to go running back to Jake then and play the good wife again? Live the life you never wanted in the first place" Justin shouting, the tears rolling down his face again.

"No, I'm not. I'm going to my Mum's. Now I've got to go now. Don't try and contact me. Just get on with your own life. Goodbye Justin"

And with those final words, Becca turned and headed for the door without looking back.

The cool breeze hit her as soon as she reached the outside. The noise of the traffic was deafening and her head felt heavy and tired. Collecting her thoughts, she started to walk slowly down the road, almost as if she was on autopilot. Turning the corner, the emotion and pain of what just happened hit her like a gale force wind as the tears began to roll down her cheeks, her heart aching and in pain. Reaching into her pocket for a tissue, her fingers rested on a folded up piece of paper. Pulling it out of her pocket, she read it through her tears.

_Justin, I'm sorry but I'm leaving. I love you and I always will but I have to go. I've ruined my own life without ruining yours too. I'm pregnant Justin, I can't let you give up your life for me and a baby that might not even be yours._

_Becca xx_


End file.
